1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to on-line communication networks, and particularly to interpersonal communications on such networks.
2. Description of Related Art
An important aspect of an xe2x80x9conlinexe2x80x9d system, such as the proprietary system operated by America Online, Inc. (AOL) or the public Internet system, is knowledge of the people/users/processes on that system and a methodology for communicating with them through some selected protocol. When a person xe2x80x9clogs onxe2x80x9d to a network system, they are in effect identifying themselves to the system and announcing their presence. On most systems, this presence is unique to every user who is on the system. For example, on the AOL network this presence is known as the xe2x80x9cscreen namexe2x80x9d, but on other systems it could be an Internet Protocol (IP) address or some other unique identifier.
An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is, in a sense, an online system because every user has an associated IP network address and may also have a user id and password. There can also be a hierarchy of logon systems, where an ISP is used to connect to a first network, and then once connected the user can log on to another system with a different identity. These secondary systems can be in parallel (i.e., a user connects to an ISP and then logs on to multiple systems), or a combination of parallel and hierarchical (i.e., a user logs on to multiple systems in parallel once connected to the ISP, and then from one of those parallel systems logs on to yet other systems. Thousands to millions of users may be accessing such complex networks at any point in time.
A problem with networks on any size is tracking personal relationships and maintaining knowledge of the people/users/processes on that system. In the AOL network, a user could use a LOCATE function to inquire from the system if another user was currently logged into the system. In the CompuServe network, a user can use a more limited xe2x80x9cWHO""S HERExe2x80x9d function to determine who is present in a forum conference.
The present invention addresses the problem of tracking personal relationships and maintaining knowledge of the people/users/processes on that system with a unique way of establishing and maintaining user definable on-line co-user lists.
The invention implements a real time notification system that tracks, for each user, the logon status of selected co-users of an on-line or network system and displays that information in real time to the tracking user in a unique graphical interface. The invention provides user definable on-line co-user lists, or xe2x80x9cbuddy listsxe2x80x9d, that track specific co-users in real-time automatically.
A user can create many separate buddy lists of co-users, either with intersecting or disjoint lists of users, and label these buddy lists according to the user""s preference. The user can update a buddy list or create new buddy lists whenever necessary. When a user logs on to a system, the user""s set of buddy lists is presented to the buddy list system. The buddy list system attempts to match co-users currently logged into the system with the entries on the user""s buddy list. Any matches are displayed to the user. As co-users logon and logoff, a user""s buddy list is updated to reflect these changes. An indication can also be added to show that a co-user just logged on or just left the system.